The Warwick Area Career and Technical Center celebrated its fourth annual Field Day & Car Show on Friday, May 19, with the parking lot transformed into an automotive spring fling featuring classic cars, a rock wall, games, pizza and even scholarship awards.

Would you be surprised to learn it’s the most popular day of the school year?

“The students always get excited for this,” said Jill Shurtleff, a cosmetology instructor with the school and the organizer of the annual event.  “We try to make it an opportunity to celebrate the work they’ve put in throughout the year. The automotive program invites local car guys to show off their vehicles, and they seem to get a few more each year – this year we had just over fifty turn out.”

These automobiles ranged from classic to luxury to fully hot-rodded – although some of the most anticipated vehicles were unfortunately AWOL.

“We had planned to bring a few of our support vehicles so the automotive students could look under the hood,” said Army National Guard SSG. Jacob Cary, a recruiter assigned to the school.  “That didn’t pan out, but we brought pizza instead and that seemed just as popular.”

The National Guard is one of the key sponsors of the annual event, also bringing along the rock wall which towered over the field day festivities.  According to Cary, the tradition has proven an effective means of engaging with targeted student groups.

“We’re always looking for people who have an interest in mechanics and machinery,” he explained.  “There’s obviously a learning curve – the Army has its own standards and expects things to be done the Army way, but finding students with the interest is the key thing.”

Students leading the way

Although the Guard may have brought the pizza, the work of handing it out fell to WACTC Student Leaders.  “We’re usually on hand for setting things up, passing out food, then cleaning everything up again,” explained Aidan Clark, a senior in the school’s electronics program.  He will be attending CCRI in the fall.  “We also serve as greeters and ambassadors at local middle schools, telling them about the technology and career programs here.”

Shurtleff, one of the co-advisors of the leadership program, explained that each of the 15 technology programs offered by the school is represented by a student leader, a position she described as being similar to a class officer.  “Besides representing the school, we also hope they’ll model leadership skills for their classmates too,” she said.  “For instance, Aidan here has already started his own computer business.”

Although its introduction was too recent for Aidan to have enrolled, the CTC now includes an Academy of Business Management and Marketing - a dramatic expansion of the school’s former fashion merchandizing program.  “This is our first full year,” said business instructor Sharon Bowen.  “Before the pandemic, there were a few students with the fashion interest, but we saw an opportunity to broaden this to include other types of marketing, as well as business skills, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy.”

There are currently eight students enrolled in the program, which is designed to give them all of the skills they need to open a business upon graduation. 

“I would like for them to go to college,” Bowen explained.  “I’m a teacher, I’m a mom – of course I want them to go to college.  But they should have all of the knowledge they need by the end of the program to jump right in to business management if that’s the path they choose.”

Helping students determine their path is, unsurprisingly, the work of the school’s guidance counselor, Ann Hourahan.  She cites the new business management program as a promising addition to the synergistic relationship the programs share.  “Our students constantly work together between programs to accomplish some really remarkable projects,” Hourahan said.  “Just recently, our construction, electrical technology, and CAD/drafting programs all worked together to build a house in North Kingstown.  When you add the business element, there’s definitely some interesting potential there.”

Recognizing student achievements

The Field Day also recognized the potential of WACTC’s outgoing students, many of whom received scholarships and competition awards at the event.  Most of the school’s programs included laureates of some field or another, ranging from marine technology scholarships to winners of a welding sculpture competition.

Several of the awards had direct ties to the school itself, including the William J Valerio Memorial Scholarship.  Named after a longtime WACTC automotive technology instructor, the scholarship is awarded through the National Automotive Technology Education Foundation to high performing students in the field.  It’s only a small part of Valerio’s legacy at the school, which includes accomplishments ranging from a 2002 National Auto Technology Championship to having been named the #1 high school automotive program in the country in 2004.  The scholarship was introduced in 2005, shortly after he had passed away from cancer at the age of 57.

Valerio’s granddaughter, Makayla Yates (a student at West Warwick High School), was on hand to present the awards.  “I usually come with my family, so I was a bit nervous to have to do it by myself this year,” she admitted afterwards, appearing visibly relieved.

The Field Day wasn’t only a hit among current WACTC students, however: many automotive alumni made the trek back to campus to show off their latest projects.  “I’ve been working on this 1990 Mercedes Benz 300D since December,” said Lynn Gurchik, WACTC Class of 2020.  “I’ll have a lot more time to put into her over the summer – right now she’s not as powerful as I’d like.”

Gurchik, about to begin his final semester in the automotive program at the New England Institute of Technology, credits events like the Field Day with stoking his interest in the trade.  “At first, I was just excited that we could get out of class for the day,” he confessed.  “But getting to see the kinds of cars grads from the school were working on was awesome.  Even then, I was already looking forward to coming back with something of my own some day.”